Social by Matto: Mediterranean small plates in Edinburgh inspired by pintxos and cicchetti culture

Anne Pia
Sep 30
3 min read

A board with slices of meat, nuts and padron peppers — Food made for sharing

San Sebastián in Spain’s Basque Country is famous for its stunning beach, elegant Belle Époque architecture, and perhaps most significantly, its world-class culinary scene. A global food hub, it is renowned for innovative chefs and its distinctive pintxos…mere mouthfuls of artfully crafted deliciousness, so tiny they need nothing more than a toothpick to hold them together. And three or four city centre streets in the Parte Vieja are host to around seventy to eighty traditional pintxos bars, windows crammed with tray upon tray of gastronomic temptation and each distinct eatery, drawing you in as you meander, ready for a glass of something aromatic and a nibble before dinner.

L’ora dell’aperitivo (think madrigals and church bells) especially in Venice, brings that same sense of wanton anticipation…elegant bars and city folk, a fine goblet of maybe Arneis, white, rare and rich or an amaro, a negroni sbagliato.. whatever.. all matched with the tasty, silky morsels of light-peppered meats, earthy olives, delicate squares of pizzette and so much more…that are traditional cicchetti.

A Taste of the Mediterranean in Edinburgh

Social by Matto, Matto Pizza’s latest venture in Edinburgh's West End evokes these other food worlds…sunshine, abundance, style and wellbeing.

On the occasion of its recent showcase night, we paused at an alluring window display of good things to eat before warm greetings, and a long counter lined with bubbling flutes of fizz welcomed us in. We soon found our form as chefs busily dipped and flipped, layered and sliced; servers offered drinks from the extensive drinks menu and set out platter after platter of “small plates” on the counters that surrounded an open cooking space. More generous and substantial than than the small mouthfuls of those warm, distant climes, these offerings take small plates in a different direction and be wary if you plan another course to follow.

What’s on the Menu at Social by Matto

The menu is varied and extensive and from a wider selection than could be managed, we feasted on padròn peppers with ricotta, pink peppercorns and olive oil; beetroot tartare, basil ricotta and micro greens; whipped feta, cherry tomato confit and parsley; tomatoes, red onion, balsamic glaze and buffalo mozzarella; all on lightly toasted bread.

The mini board of semi-dried tomatoes, goats cheese, pecorino, salami, chorizo and pugliese taralli was a welcome contrast to the soft white cheeses on display, though the salami a little too thinly sliced and the chorizo somewhat a surprise.

Read our review of Matto Pizza here

Star Dishes and Signature Bites

The stars of the show were undoubtedly the fried nduja meatballs and the zucchini fritti and spicy squid bites served in the crispiest and lightest batter I’ve had outside Rome; the panuozzo, or sexy sandwich was seductive…a soft and light baked pizza dough folded over mortadella, stracciatella, pistachio crunch with chilli oil; or over salami Napoli, buffalo mozzarella, roasted red peppers, basil and toasted pine nuts. We opted however, for large slices of the pizza for which Matto is deservedly held in high regard. Our pizza al bianco, always a favourite of mine was mushroom, taleggio, garlic and red chili based with the addition of chilli oil… “fiamma” indeed and delicious.

Other temptations included loaded crisps paired with prosciutto or pecorino; a white truffle shuffle pizzetta with ham hock, taleggio and garlic mushrooms; and if you are still able, a pistachio affogato to finish… espresso and amaretto elevated to another level by a pistachio crumble and sauce. All served by a friendly, helpful team.